Curriculum differentiation for handwriting and occupational therapy/teacher partnership: collaboration or conflict?

This article examines the differences in learning support provision for English and mathematics in Irish primary schools. Questionnaires were completed by 172 learning support teachers in Irish primary schools, as part of a national assessment of English and mathematics. Few respondents (3%) provide learning support for mathematics only, over one-third (36%) provide support for English only, and the remainder provided support for both subjects. Despite the implied equivalence of English and mathematics in the Learning Support Guidelines for teachers in Ireland, considerable differences were noted for English and mathematics in terms of caseloads, in-career development, practices and attitudes. Findings provide an indication of provision prior to the introduction of a new ‘general allocation model’ of support announced by the Irish Department of Education and Science.     

Developing Summarization Skills through the Use of LSA-Based Feedback

This paper describes a series of classroom trials during which we developed Summary Street, an educational software system that uses Latent Semantic Analysis to support writing and revision activities. Summary Street provides various kinds of feedback, primarily about whether a student summary adequately covers important source content and fulfills other requirements, such as length. The feedback allows students to engage in extensive, independent practice in writing and revising without placing excessive demands on teachers for feedback. We first discuss the underlying educational rationale, then present some results of the trials conducted with the system. We describe the collaborative process among researchers and teachers which enabled the development of a viable and supportive educational tool and its integration into classroom instruction.     

Trinity Mysteries: University,Elite Schooling and Sport in Ireland

The development of sport in Ireland was, contrary to some arguments, highly influenced by English examples and Anglo-Irish institutions. Trinity College and prestigious Irish schools did have an impact, as did the number of Irish students sent to England for public school or university education. Athleticism was evident in Ireland as it was in England. Although the development of soccer did follow a slightly different trajectory from other sports, as was also the case in both England and Scotland, this does not mean that it departed from this broad evolutionary model of Irish sport. Yet this was Ireland: and Ireland was different. As opposition to British rule intensified, forms of sporting participation took on more and more of a national symbolism. The outcome was the emergence of a very potent form of athleticism: an Irish athleticism for an Irish people.

Les mystères de la Trinité : Université, Ecoles d'élites et Sport en Irlande

Contrairement à certaines affirmations, le développement du sport en Irlande a été fortement influencé par des exemples anglais et des institutions anglo-irlandaises. Le Collège de la Trinité et de prestigieuses écoles irlandaises a eu un impact, tout comme les nombreux étudiants irlandais envoyés en Angleterre dans les établissements privés ou les universités. L'idéologie d'Athleticism étaient naturels en Irlande tout comme ils l'étaient en Angleterre. Bien que le développement du football y ait suivi une trajectoire légèrement différente d'autres sports, ainsi que ce fut aussi le cas en Angleterre et en Ecosse, cela ne veut pas dire qu'il ait échappé au modèle évolutif plus large du sport Irlandais. Pourtant c'était l'Irlande, et l'Irlande était différente. Alors que l'opposition aux règles britanniques s'intensifiait, des formes de pratique sportive relevèrent de plus en plus d'un symbolisme national. Le résultat fut l'émergence d'une forme très puissante de sport: un sport irlandais pour les Irlandais.

Misterios trinitarios: universidad, escuela de élite y deporte en Irlanda

El desarrollo del deporte en Irlanda estuvo muy influenciado por experiencias inglesas e instituciones angloirlandesas, contrariamente a lo que algunos han argumentado. El Trinity College y las escuelas irlandesas más prestigiosas dejaron su huella, así como los numerosos estudiantes irlandeses enviados a escuelas públicas y universidades de Inglaterra. El apego a la cultura física estaba tan presente en Irlanda como en Inglaterra. Si bien el desarrollo del fútbol siguió una trayectoria un poco diferente al de otros deportes, como también ocurrió en Inglaterra y en Escocia, esto no significa que se apartara de este amplio modelo evolutivo del deporte irlandés. Pero esto es Irlanda, e Irlanda es diferente. A medida que se acentuaba la oposición a la dominación británica, las formas de participación deportiva fueron adoptando un simbolismo nacional cada vez mayor. El resultado fue el surgimiento de una forma de cultura física muy potente: una cultura física irlandesa para los irlandeses.

Dreifaltige Mysterien: Universität, Eliteschulen und Sport in Irland

Entgegen einiger Argumentationen wurde die Entwicklung des Sports in Irland stark von englischen Vorbildern und anglo-irischen Institutionen gelenkt. Das Trinity College und prestigeträchtige irische Schulen übten ihren Einfluss aus, ebenso wie diejenigen irischen Studierenden, die nach England geschickt wurden, um dort an einer Public School oder Universität ausgebildet zu werden. Leichtathletik war in Irland ebenso bekannt wie in England. Ebenso wie in England und Schottland nahm die Entwicklung des Fußballs einen von den anderen Sportarten abweichenden Verlauf. Dennoch bedeutete dies keinen Widerspruch zum allgemeinen evolutionären Modell des irischen Sports. Aber dies war Irland; und Irland war anders. Als sich der Widerstand gegenüber der britischen Herrschaft verstärkte, erhielten Formen sportlicher Betätigung zunehmend einen Charakter nationaler Symbolik. Das Ergebnis war die Entstehung einer sehr mächtigen Art der Athletik: einer irischen Athletik für ein irisches Volk.

     

Growing up female and Muslim in the UK: an empirical enquiry into the distinctive religious and social values of young Muslims

Abstract

What does it mean to be a Muslim young woman in Britain today and with which religious and social values do these young women identify? This paper tests the thesis that Muslim identity predicts distinctive values of public and social significance among female adolescents (13- to 15- years of age) who participated in a survey conducted across the four nations of the United Kingdom. From the 11,809 participants in the survey, the present analyses compares the responses of 177 female students who self-identified as Muslim with the responses of 1183 female students who self-identified as religiously unaffiliated. Comparisons are drawn across two domains defined as religiosity and as social values. The data demonstrated that for these female adolescents self-identification as Muslim encased a distinctive profile in terms both of religiosity and social values.     

Why teachers leave: Factors that influence retention and resignation

Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior is used to examine continuing teachers’ plans to remain or resign and the likelihood of resigned teachers to return to teaching in the next 3 years. Specifically, this study examined factors that encourage or hinder resigned teachers from returning to teaching, the importance of such factors, and the importance of those factors for teachers who remained in teaching. We find that family issues are of greatest concern to all teachers, and that leavers place much more emphasis on the time they are able to spend with their families than do stayers. The importance assigned to all factors is influenced by demographic characteristics.     

Student-generated content: an approach to harnessing the power of diversity in higher education

Internationally, classes in higher education institutions are becoming larger and more diverse. Support for ‘non-traditional’ students has often taken the form of additional remedial classes offered outside the main curriculum, which has met with limited success. Sociocultural theories of learning argue that the potential clash between the sociocultural context of disciplinary knowledge and the very different home contexts of many non-traditional students needs to be acknowledged. One way to achieve this is to use student-generated content, which allows teachers to bring student experiences and voices into the community of practice and acknowledges the importance of their prior experiences in knowledge production. Building on such sociocultural approaches to teaching and learning, this paper focuses on the use of student-generated podcasts as a means to harness the diversity of student experiences in a large (nearly 600 students) first-year Economics class at a South African University.     

Teacher Evaluation in The Netherlands and its Relationship to Educational Effectiveness Research

In this article, we describe the history, current practice and future of teacher evaluation in The Netherlands. After a short introduction describing the Dutch educational system, we present information about teacher evaluation practices performed by persons outside the school (the Inspectorate) and inside the school (the principal). We then pay attention to the progress of teacher and school effectiveness research in The Netherlands and the relatively weak links between research and evaluation practices in schools. Finally, we outline some potential future developments in the field of teacher evaluation in The Netherlands.